The prospective Cohort Of Swedish Men (COSM) study started in 1997 and followed 37,035 men with no history of heart failure, ischemic heart disease, or cancer at the beginning. After 12 years there were 266 deaths from heart failure. Men who ate over 75 grams (2.5 ounces) a day of processed meats were more than twice as likely to die from heart failure than those who ate less than 25 grams a day.

It is known that processed meats (hot dogs, salami, pepperoni, ham, sausage, etc.) contain “sodium, nitrates, phosphates and other food additives, and smoked and grilled meats also contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, all of which may contribute to the increased heart failure risk, (and) unprocessed meat is free from food additives and usually has a lower amount of sodium.”

Joanna Kaluza, Ph.D., study lead author, also pointed out the value of eating vegetables and fish and avoiding red meats in general. This study is important as it simply followed these men forward in time and looked at risk factors. I think it would be a good health practice to avoid processed meats as completely as possible, and limit the amount of fresh red meat (beef and pork being worse than wild game) to once a week or less.